Laura Finer, like many adopted children, always wondered about her birth mother. What was she like? Where is she now? How would they get along?
The Aledo woman was given the answer to all those questions five years ago in a heartwarming, albeit short, reunion with Lisa Goode Montgomery, the woman who gave birth to her in New Braunfels. She then put her baby up for adoption, with David and Cheryl Taylor raising Laura.
“My half brother posted that my birth mother had Alzheimer’s. My heart broke,” Laura said. “I had lost my mom (Cheryl) with it, and now my birth mother.
“I reached out to him via Facebook. He was so hesitant and wondered what I wanted from him. I said I know the family name LeVaughn. He said ‘How do you know that name?’ I said it was on my adoption papers. He confirmed I was his sister.
“The whole thing spiraled and we talked for days. I found out about my family and how they had all known about me. It was COVID, so we spent so much time talking and getting to know each other.”
Laura found out that Lisa had moved to New Braunfels from Knoxville, Tennessee with her older brother, Jerry LeVaughn Goode Jr., after it was discovered she was pregnant. The Taylors were living in nearby San Antonio and were selected to be her adopted parents, taking her in when she was four days old, raising her with her adopted sister — also from a different family.
“I married a Finer, my birth mother is Goode, and birth father is Wiser. How is that for a law firm: Goode, Finer, Wiser,” Laura said with a chuckle.
In May of 2021, Laura flew to Knoxville to meet her half brother Drew and the family.
“By myself!” she exclaimed. “My dad was so nervous putting me on that plane. But I hugged my brother and life felt complete.
“Then I met Lisa and was able to give her the hug I dreamed of and thank her for having me and for my adoption family and tell her I loved her.”
Sadly, Lisa had already progressed in her Alzheimer’s.
“So, I’m not sure she really knew who I was. But I think she knew,” Laura said. “Then the entire family had me over and welcomed me with hugs and tears. They all wondered and prayed for me as much as I did them.”
Laura has been back to visit her family three times since and has another visit planned soon, and she attended Lisa’s funeral.
“I was able to be there for Drew when he lost his mom, like I lost mine from Alzheimer’s,” she said.
“I was so excited and a little nervous about Laura getting on a plane to Knoxville not knowing anyone. I prayed that they would be accepting, and I was truly blown away with the love they showed,” David said. “It’s so special she now has a connection to her birth family as well as our family.
“She really helped Drew through the process of losing his mom to Alzheimer’s as Laura lost her mother too.”
Laura keeps in touch with all her cousins and talks frequently to her aunt Patty, Lisa’s sister.
“She had answered a lot of my questions,” Laura said.
And she speaks with Drew almost every day.
“Finding Drew when I did was the best thing. We both were ready to have each other in our lives,” she said. “Me to find my mother and family to finally get the answer. And Drew was old enough to understand why they kept it a secret (from him and his brother Austin), but also mature enough to accept that this is my sister.”
After spending most of his life not knowing a huge part of his family existed, Drew said he now can’t imagine not knowing his sister.
“We are exactly the same,” he said. “Meeting in the Knoxville airport and hugging my sister for the first time, there are no words to describe the instant connection.”
Laura’s daughter, Emmy, was born exactly 50 years after Lisa was born, Oct. 28.
“I so wish they got to meet, but the kids have not gotten up to Knoxville yet,” Laura said. “I was able to tell her about the kids, but with Alzheimer’s, I don’t know how much she knew.”
Laura also noted that her birth parents were high school sweethearts and 18 years old.
“I have a picture of them at a formal,” Laura said.
LeVaughn was a family name passed down through many generations in the family.
“It was a relative in Georgia who was the 11th child, and that is how they spelled 11 in the south,” Laura said. “The only living relative with that name is Jerry LeVaughn Goode Jr. in New Braunfels. That is who Lisa came to live with during her pregnancy and was on my adoption papers. I was able to cross reference them with the obituary for my grandmother.”
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